So, I had to travel down to Florida for a few days for a funeral. My folks were down there. My dad, who's in his late 70's does the powerwalking thing every morning. He's a pretty gregarious guy. Likes to say hi to everyone. Make conversation. Smile at people. It's galling. So, on the morning of one of his walks, he meets up with this tall, older black gentleman walking along in sort of hunched over into a question mark. My dad does his thing, says hello, asks if the guy is local. The guys says no, he's visiting from Nebraska, or some such place. He finds out the guy's name is Bob and they walk along together. The next morning, they meet up again. Talk a bit more. The guy tells my dad that his son is a minor league ball player and he's "trying out for the Dodgers." I think my dad may have screwed up that part of the story, because the Dodgers are now in Arizona. Anyway, the guy tells him that they took the camper down to Florida to watch his son. The next morning, they walk again, talk a bit more. Mostly small talk. Next morning - same thing. Anyway, after they had been walking for a few days, they're talking about their kids and Bob is talking about his son, or some such thing. My dad asks questions about the kid's baseball career. Somewhere along the way, Bob mentions to my dad that he used to be a player also. My dad asks what position, where he played, etc. He was a pitcher. Played in St. Louis. Turns out, my crazy old man had been powerwalking with Bob Gibson for the better part of a week before dad figures out who the guy was. He's not an autograph hound, and not a huge baseball fan, but it made for an interesting story.
Nice story, jack..What town in Florida? That may help.. Oh wait. I bet it is the Cards...they train in Palm Beach.. Double wait...champ used to live there..Is jack champ's son?
Cool story. Too bad he didn't know realize it was Bob Gibson earlier in the week. Could have had some interesting chats throughout the week about the game and his era.
Great story but how pathetic that Bob Gibson "had to take the camper down to Florida" to visit his son. And yeah, his kid plays for St. Louis. You would think they would have flown him down and put him up in any hotel he wanted just to have him there.
I believe he does do some work with young baseball players, but Gibson has a lot of time on his hands. I betcha he enjoyed taking the camper down to Florida. As GreenMachine stated, the camper is probably a motorhome. Therefore, Gibson would have zero use for a hotel room.
Sweet story. Seems as though it would have been a lot easier had the conversation started with, "Hi, I am Bob Gibson." I have always read that Gibson is humble and shy, so maybe he just enjoys his privacy.
I only said that because living here, most retired folk call Motor homes "the camper"... Motor homes are far from "campers", but the lingo has stuck.
I think that's right, except I got the impression from the story that they were staying in the same complex where my folks were staying. I could be wrong. Easy enough to find out. "Camper" is the term my dad used, so I'm not sure what he meant.
Jack, that's a really cool story. See? It pays to be nice and friendly sometimes. Though I'll probably never verify that on my own. BTW: My condolences regarding the funeral.
